New York vs. L.A.: Molly Sims

I'm sure many of you have already seen the fabulous cover story of Molly Sims' new NY apartment in the fall issue of InStyle Home! However, I would also assume that most of you missed the coverage of her LA home in the first and only issue of Living Room, published in fall of 2002 by Better Homes and Gardens! At first glance, I assumed Molly was a complete style schizo, as her two homes are polar opposites in appearance. But when I read both articles I realized that she relied on the same tactics of flea market hunting and vintage shopping to get the look in both of her homes. Molly's sophisticated New York apartment leans very trad, with wingback chairs, tufted sofas, silver mint julep cups, chandeliers and symmetrical rooms. She scored the ballerina painting (above right) at a Paris flea market, and filled much of her apartment with eBay and other flea market finds. To pull it all together, Molly worked with interior designer Kishani Perera of the L.A. firm Fuse I.D.

Her LA home, on the other hand, leans very Asian and less structured. She found her dining room chairs on the street (really) on her move-in day, and her mom spent hours Windexing them! The rest of the furniture and accessories are either vintage or purchased from Plantation.